All posts tagged caste

The Indian government is still considering whether to quiz everyone on their caste in Census 2011, something that hasn’t been done since 1931 (although the once-a-decade survey takes stock of specific lower caste and tribal groups that are the focus of government affirmative action programs). The 1931 census, though, took a comprehensive look at India’s make-up, holding forth on complex and controversial aspects like caste, tribe and race.

It’s a tricky, sensitive matter to define people, especially when the prevailing wisdom of one time can become discredited and outmoded later. We went back to the 1931 census to look at how the officials of that time classified Indians by race. Many parts of that study might be met with a very cynical eye today, but it certainly makes for interesting reading on how the Raj authorities viewed British India and its 353 million people. Read More »

A morbid story of a teenage couple daring to cross the barriers of caste at the cost of their lives hit the front pages of Indian newspapers Tuesday. Even more shocking, their alleged gory murder was committed in India’s capital city, New Delhi.

AFP/Getty Images

Honor Killing a Way of Life: A case of suspected honor killing in Punjab’s Taran Taran district.

Local police officials have dubbed it an honor killing since the couple belonged to different castes and the family of 19-year-old Asha Saini was opposed to the idea of her marriage to her 20-year-old boyfriend, Yogesh Jatav, a chauffeur. On June 13, the couple was allegedly assaulted and brutally murdered by the girl’s family, police say.

N. S. Bundela, deputy commissioner of police in the northwest region in New Delhi told India Real Time Tuesday: “We were shocked to see the couple lying dead with blood all over the room. A hammer and a crowbar were also found beside the bodies, which had multiple stab wounds and the open wires on the walls suggested electrocution.” Read More »

India is deciding whether to broaden the caste component of the 2011 census.

Caste is usually a divisive topic in India but at a discussion in parliament in early May, most of the 41 MPs who spoke argued for Census 2011, underway now, to question everyone on their caste.

Their refrain: The government counts the animals, rivers, ponds and trees in the country, so why not count the number of people by caste?

The head count will only take place in February, so questions can still be inserted into the present census, which began April 1. A spokesman for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told India Real Time on Sunday evening that “a decision is likely soon.” Read More »

Many Indians criticize Lord Babington Macaulay for creating, in his words, “a class of persons, Indian in blood and color, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect,” to act as native interpreters between the British and India’s multitudes.

For decades some Indian intellectuals have wondered (often in English) how to gain the standing for other Indian languages that English – and those educated in English – have. Dalit writer Chandra Bhan Prasad has no time for such concerns. Read More »

Haryana is known for its rapid modernization, thanks to its fast-growing retail capital, Gurgaon, but a spate of so-called honor killings in the northern state serves as a grim reminder of India’s deeply entrenched feudal system.

Associated Press

A building under construction in Gurgaon, India. The city is in the growing state of Haryana, where “honor killings” have continued despite its modernization.

Last week, a man in Sonepat, an area of Haryana, was accused of strangling his sister, who had eloped with a man she was in love with. The lover committed suicide a day later. On April 12, a couple was found dead in a field in Bhiwani, another Haryana town. The deceased were residents of the same village, belonged to the same subcaste and were neighbors.

Both incidents took place within two weeks of a landmark judgment by a Haryana court, sentencing five people to death and one person to life imprisonment for killing a couple who married against the local-government-dictated societal norms and within the same subcaste. The couple hailed from the same village in Haryana’s Kaithal district and had married against the wishes of the woman’s family. Soon after their marriage, the couple was kidnapped while they were traveling in a bus and then killed. Orthodox Indian village councils consider people from the same village and subcaste to be siblings, therefore, a marriage is unacceptable.

Panchayats, or village councils, are a system of self-governance that have long been prevalent in many rural parts of India. They are usually made up of elders who settle disputes and intervene between individuals and neighboring villages. Read More »

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